AN OVERARCHING inability for pharmacists to adapt to change rather than a lack of time, is often the biggest barrier to implementing new services in community pharmacies, research reveals.
The study published in Implementation Science by researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) involved 19 pharmacies from across Australia in a two-year change program, with six facilitators allocated to the stores.
While many pharmacy teams have identified a "lack of time" as a major barrier to implementing professional services, the authors said the facilitators had found the "inability to plan for change" was the most frequent factor limiting innovation in pharmacies.
"The consistency of this barrier in pharmacies across Australia alludes to an overarching inability for pharmacists to adapt to change," the authors said.
"The ability to plan for change allows pharmacy teams to become more adaptable, which is a major factor in ensuring the sustainability of innovation such as professional services in community pharmacy.
"For pharmacists in practice, this can be addressed by governing pharmacy bodies and by pharmacy owners equipping their teams with the right capabilities to plan for change and become more adaptable, this is crucial because if pharmacy practice is to survive as an active participant in emerging healthcare systems, pharmacy practice must change along with the rest of healthcare."
The facilitators found that equipping stakeholders by creating ownership of the change, and providing training to pharmacy staff were crucial to overcoming barriers to implementing new services.
"A growing body of evidence highlights that performance can be enhanced when actions are taken that result in empowering individuals," the authors said.
"Empowering employees can encourage risk-taking, innovation and initiative.
"High levels of empowerment are also more likely to promote individual team members' motivational states even when there are minor relationship conflicts within the team.
"Such knowledge can be used to educate pharmacy students, pharmacists and pharmacy owners to empower their teams during the implementation of innovations such as professional services."
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